U-M Earns NCAA Tournament Bid, Will Face No. 4 Seed Louisville in First Round
11/10/2019 10:57:00 PM | Field Hockey
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The University of Michigan field hockey team will begin its quest for the program's second NCAA championship on Friday (Nov. 15) at noon, when it faces No. 4-seeded Louisville at Trager Stadium in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship.
Northwestern and Boston College will meet in the other first-round matchup on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Friday's winners will meet in the quarterfinal round, which is scheduled for Sunday (Nov. 17). All matches will take place at the Cardinals' Trager Stadium.
The winner of each regional site will advance to the national semifinals, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 22, at Wake Forest's Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Michigan will make its 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fifth in as many seasons. U-M owns an 18-13 record in NCAA Tournament play and has advanced to the semifinals in four of its 15 appearances, most recently in 2017, and has played in the national title game twice. Last season, the Wolverines reached the NCAA quarterfinals, where they fell to eventual champion North Carolina.
Michigan received an at-large berth to the tournament after winning posting a 13-6 record, including six wins against nationally-ranked opposition. U-M fell to Penn State, 2-1, in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals in its most recent outing.
Louisville (15-5) also earned an at-large bid after falling to top-seeded North Carolina, 3-1, in the ACC Tournament semifinals. Michigan is 9-3 all-time against the Cardinals but has not faced them since 2017, when it earned a decisive 6-2 win on the road.
Michigan is one of four Big Ten schools to earn NCAA Tournament selection. Northwestern will join the Wolverines in Louisville, while Iowa, which won the conference tournament Sunday (Nov. 10) to earn the automatic bid, will travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Maryland heads to Charlottesville, Virginia.
